Extra fatty acids that the human body doesn’t use for energy or other metabolic purposes can have negative health effects. Consuming more than you need of any caloric nutrient, including fat, increases your body mass when the excess is stored as body fat for later use. Diets that are high in saturated fat and trans fat -- and for some people, cholesterol -- create conditions in which these so-called solid fats lodge in arteries, impeding blood flow. The U.S. Department of Agriculture considers healthy total fat limits to be 20 to 35 percent of all dietary calories, with less than 10 percent of these drawn from saturated and trans fats and the remainder from unsaturated fats.
Unsaturated Fats
Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats -- abundant in plant-based foods -- benefit your blood cholesterol balance to improve heart health, but have the same calorie load as the more detrimental fats: 9 calories per gram. When you exceed the level of unsaturated fatty acids that your body can use, your body transforms the extra dietary fat into fatty, or adipose, tissue, increasing your weight. If a continued high-calorie intake keeps your body from dipping into this storage later, you can’t lose weight. Instead, you’ll add pounds and risk becoming obese, with a body mass index of 30 or more.
Cholesterol
Cholesterol is not a fat but a substance to which fats bind in the human bloodstream and which may hold them in the arteries. Your body makes enough cholesterol for metabolic functions, so any cholesterol that comes from food is extra. When combined with high saturated-fat intake in some people, dietary cholesterol raises LDL blood cholesterol, a risk factor for narrowed arteries and heart disease. The USDA recommends consuming less than 300 milligrams of cholesterol per day. Cholesterol, which is noncaloric, exists only in animal-based foods, so eating more fruits, vegetables and grains will decrease your dietary cholesterol intake.
Saturated Fats
Your saturated-fat intake is directly tied to your LDL blood cholesterol level. Low-density lipoproteins, or LDLs, circulate cholesterol in the bloodstream, where it may lodge inside blood vessels and attract solid fats from foods such as meats and whole milk. This association with blood-vessel blockage is the reason to limit saturated fat in your diet. Like cholesterol, adequate saturated fats are made by the body, so maintaining a low LDL blood cholesterol and dietary saturated-fat intake preserves your cardiovascular health and limits calories to a usable quantity.
Trans Fats
Trans fats, found in meats, whole-milk products and partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, are also nonessential to your diet. Processed foods made with trans fat are the main source of extra trans fats, which act like saturated fats on the human body and may also lower good HDL, or high-density lipoprotein, blood cholesterol. The calories and solid fats in foods such as cakes, pies, doughnuts, cookies, crackers and snack popcorn contribute to excess weight and dangerous fatty buildup in the blood vessels.
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